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Blog expands upon our monthly main site commentary. Regular categories include Fund Updates, Works In Progress, Making Most of MFO Premium, and Site Updates. Reader comments can be posted via the form provided under each post. Subscribers can also submit articles as guests and offer site feedback by clicking here.

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We asked the good folks at Morningstar if they’d generate a list of all five-star funds from ten years ago, then update their star ratings from five years ago and today. I’d first seen this data several years ago when it had been requested by a Wall Street Journal reporter and shared with us. The common interpretation is “it’s not worth it, since five-star funds aren’t likely to remain five-star funds.”

One difference between Morningstar’s results reporting (1-, 3, 5 and 10 year) and ours (up cycle, down cycle, full market cycles plus standard periods) is that theirs contains an invisible chasm. That chasm exists for funds that were around during the 2007-09 market crisis but that do not have a 10 year track record yet. The only thing that Morningstar will report is their records for the past five years or less. No matter how catastrophic their performance during the meltdown, they receive no penalty for it. Their 3- and 5-year return ratings cover only the recent bull market and their star ratings (and risk grades!) are based only on their performance in the good times.

The current full market cycle began in October 2007 as domestic markets peaked just ahead of the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression. Domestic markets hit bottom in early March, 2009, and have rebounded sharply since then.

We were wondering whether there were any “safe” Technology Funds to consider for the potentially turbulent years ahead. We thought we’d start by asking “who did well during the last two crashes?” and seeing if anyone avoided the worst of the bloodshed in both 2000-02 and 2007-09.

Our screener has two functions. The first is to allow side-by-side comparisons of a dozen or more funds over meaningful time periods. The second is to allow you to generate lists of funds whose accomplishments are particularly meaningful to you.

CBS News declared you “a losing bet.” TheStreet.com declared that you’re dead. Joseph Duran asked, curiously, “are you a dinosaur?” Schwab declared that “a great question!” Ric Edelman, a major financial advisor, both widely quoted and widely respected, declares, “The retail mutual fund industry is a dinosaur and won’t exist in 10 or 15 more years, as investors are realizing the incredible opportunity to lower their cost, lower their risks and improve their disclosure through low-cost passive products.” When asked what their parents do for a living, your kids desperately wish they could say “my dad writes apps and mom’s a paid assassin.” Instead they mumble “stuff.” In short, you are no longer welcome at the cool kids’ table.